Re: Second Sight Features

[spector@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector)]

In article bazyar@netcom.com (Jawaid Bazyar) writes...
> 
>SecondSight� SVGA Board
>Specifications & Features
>
>Modes
>-----
> 
>The following existing Apple II and IIGS video modes are emulated for display 
>on an SVGA monitor.
> 
>	40 & 80 column text
>	Lores / double lores
>	Hires / double hires
>	320x200x16
>	640x200x4/16

	What of the 320 and 640 multipalette modes? Does the current on board 
firmware support shadowing of 320x200x256, 320x200x3200 and 640x200x128+? (The
latter is rarely used, although some popular applications like System 6's 
synthLAB make use of it). I'm also curious how 640 mode dithering will appear 
on a VGA/SVGA screen, won't colors look less solid (horizontally) because of 
the higher resolution and dot-pitch?

	I'm also concerned with current (what is it now?) FPS rate and 320 
mode "blocky" looking pixels when shadowed to a VGA/SVGA screen. For this
reason, can you disable the Second Sight and get the old standard video
output on an AppleColor RGB monitor? (No emulation of older graphic modes
on my 12" screen, all video singals generated from VGC on motherboard as
if the Second Sight wasn't plugged in). I just want to be sure I won't
have to pull the card out just to see text and graphics as they appear
_now_ on my system. :)

>The card is capable of the following SVGA video modes:
> 
>  Text
>
>	132x25
>
>(* indicates that the mode is not available when used with an AppleColor RGB
> monitor.)

	I assume you forgot the asterix by the 132x25 Text mode, unless you
found some neat trick of getting that displayed on an AppleColor RGB. ;-)

>Software Support
>----------------
>SecondSight comes with an image viewer program that supports GIF and
>8-bit TIFF images.  A Photo-CD viewer will be forthcoming soon.

	No JPEG support? And only 8-bit TIFF conversation? I hope
HiColor (32k) and TrueColor (16M) support will be added to the 
viewer in the near future. 

>Common Questions and Answers
>----------------------------
>Q. How much video memory can the Second Sight support?
>A. 1MB (megabyte). The card comes standard with 512K (IIe) or 1MB (IIGS), 
>   enough to support up to 1024x768x256 resolution.

	The GIF image of the Second Sight shows 8 ZIP-RAMs soldered in.
Does this mean there are two separate versions of the card, one with all
memory factory installed, and another with 4 empty DRAM sockets?

>Q. How many colors can Second Sight display at one time?
>A. VGA mode: 
>	256 at a time (256 colors per pixel, or 8-bit pixels) from a 
>	total of 16.7 million colors (up to 1024x768 resolution)
>   HighColor:
>	32768 direct colors (up to 800x600 resolution)
>   TrueColor:
>	16.7M direct colors (up to 640x480 resolution)

	For those of use sticking with our AppleColor RGB screens (until we
can afford something better :), would 1MB be required to get a 640x400x16.7M
display or will 512k handle that? And what is the maximum number of colors
that can be displayed at 320x200 and 640x200?  

>Q. What kind of monitor do I need, if I want to buy a new one?
>A. Any "VGA" or "SVGA" monitor will work fine.  Any monitor sold for use
>   with an IBM PC clone (386/486) computer will work. You want a monitor
>   with a small dot-pitch; .39 dot pitch is not very good; .28 dot pitch
>   is better, and .23 dot pitch is best.  Sequential Systems is selling a
>   very high quality Samsung 14" Multi-Sync monitor; call for details.

	This question is more directed towards users out there. I wonder,
what are good brand name monitors (make and model) that people recommend
shopping for, and which to avoid. PC SVGA monitors are available far and
wide, so most of us out there can shop for them locally (unlike Apple II
specific hardware that is near impossible to purchase without going through
out of town mail order). Hmmm, I've heard of an adapter that allows PC users
to connect Macintosh RGB screens to their IBM PCs -- would such an adapter
work with the Second Sight card? 

>Q. How is existing software improved by the Second Sight?
>A. Existing software is not generally improved automatically, except for one 
>   thing: because the IIGS's super hires mode is simulated using a 640x400 
>   mode in the VGA controller, there are no black lines running through 
>   graphics or text.. pictures and text are solid on a VGA monitor.

	Will scanlines disappear when using a Second Sight with the standard
AppleColor RGB screen? (A bit of a conflicting question though, since I also
asked above whether you could disable SS video signals going to a GS RGB. 
Losing the scanlines is nice, but chunky pixels and a reduced frame-rate 
might not be). I think using a Second Sight with the old AppleColor RGB
makes about as much sense as using the card on an Apple IIe; it'll work,
but your limiting the potential/power of the card. Probably the reason you 
don't see much focus on the Apple RGB or IIe when it comes to Q&A on the 
card. :)

>Q. What happens if I run a program that needs a high-res video mode on an 
>   Apple RGB monitor?
>A. The program will most likely return an error. The Second Sight card will 
>   prevent any possibly damaging video modes from being sent to an Apple RGB 
>   monitor (as long as you use the card's firmware to set the video mode).

	What would happen if a programmer (either stupid or evil) overrides
the firmware and forces higher resolution modes than the AppleColor RGB can
handle? Will it blow up in our face? :) I guess this would only be a problem
if a virus were written, but in a community this small, I doubt we'd have to
worry about it.

> Jawaid Bazyar              |   Like UNIX? Like your Apple IIGS? Then ask
> Procyon, Inc.              |   me about GNO/ME for the Apple IIgs!   
> bazyar@netcom.com          |   P.O Box 620334    (Sequential: 303-666-4549)
> --Apple II Forever!--      |   Littleton, CO 80162-0334   (303) 781-3273

Mitchell Spector
m_spect@vega.concordia.ca / spector@vax2.concordia.ca